books & more
I'll be teaching several English literature courses next year, and I'm very excited about the books in my 10th grade World Lit class. These aren't all heavy-hitters, but I think they're all books that will challenge or inspire the kids in some way. Our school year follows a calendar of four 8-week quarters. Here's what [...]
*This post includes a free high school literature teaching unit on The Great Gatsby. * Two lines of literature that I was required to read in high school have stuck with me until today...many years later. The first: "In the room the women come and go / talking of Michelangelo," from T. S. Eliot's classic [...]
You all have loved our post on how to read Pride and Prejudice along with the BBC miniseries (because, Colin Firth!), and some of you have requested we do a similar post on Sense & Sensibility. So, here I am to save the day! At the homeschool co-op where I teach literature, I also happen [...]
Christmas is three weeks deep in my rearview window, but my bank statement is feeling it now. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who puts off shopping until the last minute, then panic-shops and has the financial hit to go with it. This year, I'm determined to bring more sanity to my advent season. [...]
The Eagle rank in Scouts BSA is one of the most distinguished achievements a teen can earn, and rightly so. It is a lot of work, but the kids I know are excited and willing to do it. With so many young people are focused on social justice these days, I wanted to share some [...]
When I was tapped to teach 5th to 8th grade Geography last year at my homeschool co-op, I was really excited but totally clueless about where to start looking for a (preferably free) middle school geography curriculum. I really wanted to teach a fun class that opened my students' eyes to the diverse beauty of [...]
Now in my fourth year of homeschooling, I've tried my fair share of literature curriculum for my kids. I've been on a search for diverse high school literature curriculum for the last two years, and if it's free it's even better. Curriculum can get expensive. We've done Memoria Press, with its classical (borderline boring) approach [...]
Love Actually is ... actually ... one of my favorite Christmas movies. At some point my husband and I realized this is a film we watch every year, and all of a sudden it became tradition. But as our kids have grown into teens and stay up later at night, our margin for watching movies [...]
Saxon math parents, it's been an epic quest but I have found the holy grail: the online, self-grading Saxon math site that has absolutely changed my life. I'm feeling borderline evangelistic about this resource, y'all. After four years of homeschool, the one curriculum I've stuck with year-in and year-out is Saxon math. It's a solid [...]
The Eagle rank in Scouts BSA is one of the most distinguished achievements a teen can earn, and rightly so. It is a lot of work. It can be hard to know where to start, so I wanted to share some tips for getting your project going... along with plenty of Eagle project ideas that [...]
Spilled Milk 